Ticket to Paradise

A thoroughly enjoyable piffle starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney as battling divorcees, showing they can still romcom with the best of them.

You’d really have to have leaked every last drop of joy out of your heart not to find something to like about “Ticket to Paradise,” a thoroughly enjoyable piffle reuniting Julia Roberts and George Clooney.

(Though, based on the current Rotten Tomatoes score, you can see there are plenty of critics who are dry-pumping these days.)

They play a pair of battling divorcees who jet off to Bali to sabotage the disastrous (they think) quickie wedding of their daughter. It’s something of a comeback for a pair of former A-listers who stepped away from the Hollywood production mill by choice, and get to show that they can still romcom with the best of the current kiddos.

It’s a big, broad, fun comedy where the punchlines are practically accompanied by a visible wind-up and followed by a planned beat for appreciative laughs. Clooney eases gracefully into his dad-jokes period and Roberts has a few nice grace notes as an older woman chewing on her regrets. But she can still uncork that open-mouth laugh that’s been charming us for three decades-plus now.

It’s nice to see movie stars aging gracefully, both in the physical and metaphysical sense. Clooney, who famously eschews makeup on sets, has got a few more crinkles and moves with the janky-kneed stance of a guy whose pickup basketball days are behind him. Roberts still has the auburn waves and coltish smile that made her famous, though when there’s a swimming scene she’s outfitted in a decidedly old-lady one-piece.

You know what? They still look great, and give off the vibe of people who are very comfortable in their own, slightly creased, skin. Clooney and Roberts have both won their Oscars, made boffo boxoffice and have nothing left to prove to anyone. These roles in this movie give off the air of people doing something just for funsies.

And “Ticket to Paradise” is just that.

They play David and Georgia Cotton, who married young and hopeful and divorced a few short years later. Their split was quite acrimonious, and they would have no communication at all if not for sharing a 25-year-old daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever). She’s just graduated from law school and is about to embark on a promising career with a big Chicago law firm.

The graduation ceremony is their first meeting in years, and it’s a barely controlled feud of snark, one-liners and one-upsmanship. “Never again” is too soon, they both agree.

Georgia is a high-end art curator dating a younger French airline pilot, Paul (Lucas Bravo), while David seems to live mostly in his career and blowsy fast-talking to whoever’ll listen.

Lily decides to take some time off before starting work by traveling to Bali along with her contractually required acerbic best friend, Wren (Billie Lourd). There she instantly falls for Gede (sounds like “G’day,” played by Maxime Bouttier), a dreamy seaweed farmer, and yes that’s a real thing. A scant 37 days later, Lily summons her parents to the island for their wedding.

I know what you’re saying. Well, I know what you’re saying if you’re a parent: “37 days?!? That’s crazy!!” Or if you’re a Gen Z-er you’re saying, “How authentic and magical!” Either way, it’s a convenient set-up to get David and Georgia back in each other’s company, where sparks will fly and maybe some dormant fires will be rekindled.

(Personally, my thoughts went to wondering how much Lily just spent on student loans for a law degree, and if the earnings of a co-kelp-grower will cover even the interest payments.)

Look, you know where this is going to go and I know where this is going to go. Director Ol Parker (“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”), who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Pipski, is not aiming for surprises but comforting quips and embarrassing situations.

But the sitcom-y jokes and scenarios go down like smooth whiskey, thanks in large part to the expert repartee between Roberts and Clooney. They revel in the various antics their characters are put through, from stealing the wedding rings to engaging in an epic beer-pong face-off with the youngsters, followed by some dance moves that were mortifying even in the 1990s.

“Ticket to Paradise” scores zero points for originality, but it’s a breezy piece of entertainment featuring a pair of favored old hands showing they’ve still got it.